New Jersey’s greatest obligation is to provide a high-quality education for all of our children. To that end, we’re making progress, but we’re not there yet.

One recent major step forward is the Teacher Effectiveness and Accountability for the Children of New Jersey Act (TEACHNJ). This new law will modernize the way schools evaluate, reward and support all teachers and will help schools respond swiftly and appropriately to consistently poor teacher evaluations. The evaluation changes included in the law begin to take effect this fall.

Before TEACHNJ was enacted, student achievement didn’t factor into teacher evaluations and schools granted tenure almost automatically after three years. Without comprehensive teacher evaluations, it was nearly impossible to know which educators were superstars in their schools and which needed extra help to best serve their kids.

In the rare instances when an ineffective teacher was identified, the process to remove him or her could last years and cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. As a result, it was typically easier to avoid pursuing tenure charges.
State leaders saw these problems and responded with a practical law. Not only will a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom now be linked to earning and keeping tenure, but changes have been made to cap the costs and set time limits on the process for removing ineffective tenured teachers.

This is the kind of progress that creates tremendous opportunity. Our first priority must be to ensure that TEACHNJ is working well. This entails making sure that school leaders have the proper training and professional development to serve as instructional leaders and to conduct the new teacher evaluations. It also means giving teachers access to high-quality professional development in order to make improvements based on the feedback they get from the evaluations. Finally, it includes maintaining the state’s current commitment to basing 30 percent of a teacher’s evaluation on evidence of student growth.

Knowing what is possible now because of TEACHNJ, we should also have a sense of urgency to do more and to continue the work that New Jersey has started. There are efforts that could be undertaken to strengthen and complement the reforms included in TEACHNJ. These include improving teacher preparation by raising admission standards for teacher education programs, improving clinical training and holding teacher preparation programs accountable for producing high-quality teachers.

Furthermore, should layoffs be necessary, we need district leaders to be able to consider a teacher’s skill level and not just seniority. New Jersey voters agree: In a recent JerseyCAN poll of 600 voters, 71 percent say we should base all teacher employment decisions on student performance rather than on how long a teacher has been in the classroom.

We still have a long way to go, but thanks to TEACHNJ, we’re one big step closer. Now it’s up to our state and local leaders to hunker down and ensure that the latest reforms are implemented well and build on the momentum that’s begun with TEACHNJ.

Janellen Duffy is executive director of the nonprofit education research and advocacy organization JerseyCAN (the New Jersey Campaign for Achievement Now).